Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus: A case report

Core Tip

Core tip: We report a rare case of primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus (PMME). Although this disease is uncommon, a preoperative diagnosis of PMME is important. PMME cannot be definitely diagnosed from clinical symptoms or by X-ray barium meal examination but can be confirmed by endoscopic histological examination or a pathological report after surgical excision. The diagnosis of primary malignant melanoma should be suspected when a black or dark brown mass is observed during endoscopy. However, the endoscopic examination can complicate histological diagnosis due to poor sample quality. In the case presented here, we collected biopsies of the black surface, and the pathological report confirmed that the samples conformed to the characteristics of melanoma.